Cowboys’ Jason Witten wants to run the ball more
By Mike Dyce
The Dallas Cowboys had their fair share of issues during the 2013 season, one of those was their tendency to become one sided and abandon the run. Tight end Jason Witten says he wants the Cowboys to run more in 2014.
“DeMarco was able to have over 1,000 yards rushing, but we still didn’t run the ball enough,” Witten said Sunday, via the Dallas Morning News. “We weren’t good enough at it. That wasn’t because we didn’t want to, we just weren’t efficient enough when we needed it.
“If you have the ability to run the ball when you want, everything flows off of that. The play action’s better. The drop-back game is better. The screens are better. More importantly, you’re keeping these opposing offenses off the field. I think that’s something we’ve made a priority, and we need to do a better job and build off last year.”
The good news for Witten is that new offensive coordinator Scott Linehan agrees.
“Things that were done last year in the running game with DeMarco, the running style that was created here is really a good fit,” Linehan said in an interview on 105.3 The Fan [KRLD-FM]. “That’s going to be our strength, being able to lean on that running game a little bit more than they have in the past.
“Obviously, with this offensive line, this is going to be something that’s going to help our passing game. The looks that Dez [Bryant] started to get as the year went on, people started giving him the attention that Calvin [Johnson] and Randy Moss would get as far as getting those double coverages. You need to have those other facets of your offense as far as your running game.”